They weren't just any ordinary slabs of rock. According to Jewish tradition, they were something truly extraordinary, imbued with a divine spark.
The Zohar, that foundational text of Jewish mysticism, tells us that these tablets were actually created by God Himself, on the very eve of the first Sabbath. Imagine that! All the angels gathered around, witnessing the letters being inscribed, not with ink, but with black fire upon white fire (Exod. 31:18). And get this: the letters were visible from both sides, a testament to their otherworldly nature. Talk about divine craftsmanship!
Where did these tablets come from? Well, opinions vary. Some say they were hewn from the foundation stone at the very center of the world. Others believe they were made of sapphire taken from beneath the Throne of Glory. Either way, these weren't your average stone tablets from Home Depot.
Now, here’s where it gets really interesting. Initially, these tablets were completely spiritual. How could something so ethereal be given to a human like Moses? Some say that the moment God handed them over, they miraculously transformed into solid stone. Others believe they were created from the primordial light at the time of Creation and descended from heaven, already in stone form.
But the story doesn't end there. Satan, ever the troublemaker, did everything he could to stop the transmission of the tablets to the Israelites. Why? Because if they had received them, death itself would have disappeared, and Satan's power would have been nullified. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Satan even conjured up a terrifying illusion: he showed the people Moses' bier suspended in the air, making them believe he was dead. This, tragically, led to the creation of the infamous golden calf.
These tablets, by the way, weren’t just whipped up at the last minute. Midrash Rabbah tells us that they had been written on the sixth day of Creation, patiently waiting for Moses all that time. Before Moses, Enoch, of biblical fame, had even ascended and read everything written on them – all the deeds of humankind for generations to come!
So, what happened when Moses finally descended Mount Sinai? He saw the Israelites worshipping the golden calf, and in a fit of righteous anger, he threw down the tablets and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. A devastating moment. According to tradition, this act caused all the suffering that Israel has experienced ever since, including death itself. Had those first tablets remained intact, the world would have been free from sorrow, calamity, and the Angel of Death. God's intention was for the Jewish people to achieve immortality through the Torah, but their idolatry changed everything.
And that's why the second set of commandments was different. The first set was intended for an immortal people; the second, for mortals. Some say all the commandments on the first set were positive, encouraging good deeds, while more than half of the second set were negative, a reflection of God's understanding of human nature.
There's also a belief that great secrets were revealed when the first tablets were given, secrets that Israel became unworthy to know after the sin of the golden calf. They were forced to forget them. Another fascinating interpretation suggests that the letters on the first tablets weren't engraved, but rather fluttered like black fire on white fire. The moment Moses threw them down, the letters took flight, vanishing even before the stone shattered. Or, some say, they vanished as Moses approached the camp, recoiling from the defilement of the golden calf.
What if those first tablets had survived? What if we lived in a world without death, without sorrow? It's a powerful thought, a reminder of the potential that was lost, and perhaps, a glimpse of the potential that still remains. Perhaps that's why we continue to study and grapple with the Torah, searching for those lost sparks of divine wisdom.